


Pieces of Candy

by Lucicelo



Category: Junjou Romantica
Genre: Childhood Friends, Drama, Friends to Lovers, Hugs, Love, M/M, Romance, meeting again as kids, which formed a friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-12
Updated: 2014-08-12
Packaged: 2018-02-12 22:07:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2126295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lucicelo/pseuds/Lucicelo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Hiroki and Nowaki bumped into each other again as children? Maybe it was the day after they met at the park, which prematurely connected them to the future they would share together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pieces of Candy

Nowaki held his mother's hand while she talked with his father as they walked along the sidewalk. They were in town on a few errands and they already had a few done, some caretakers were left at the orphanage so the other children weren't left alone. He shivered when the cold air hit him and and he let go of his mother's hand to zip up his large sweater. His small backpack held the candy his parents brought him on the way home last night. He already ate some in the morning and he tried not to finish them too fast, it was rare that he got a bag to himself and he wanted it to last.

He picked out a strawberry flavor that he knew didn't taste artificial at all. It was the same type of candy that the caretakers were giving away but that was a melon flavor which he didn't like so much, he liked strawberry better. Nowaki unzipped his backpack and counted the ones inside of the bag, he had enough to last him for another week if he didn't eat them all without knowing it.

His mom and dad were busy looking at the list they had in their hands while Nowaki looked at the tall buildings. He had only walked the streets when he had to go to school with a few of the kids that were his same age but he never walked around just to look around. Nowaki saw a bakery as his mouth slightly watered, he smelled the chocolate coming from inside but he stopped himself from asking for chocolate. He already had a full bag of candy for himself and he didn't want to seem selfish.

Nowaki pouted as he tried keeping up with his parents but his short legs had him walking at a slower pace. In some instances, he wished he was the big and strong so he didn't have to be so slow when he walked. Nowaki smiled as he thought of himself when he got older but he would figure out if he would turn out tall when the years passed. His parents slowed down when they noticed Nowaki was struggling to keep up but they kept on their conversation.

Hiroki walked down the opposite direction, on the opposite side of the road, with a huge stack of books in his arms. His face was scrunched in concentration as he held up the books and had a good grip on them so they wouldn't fall onto the floor. He didn't want his precious books scratched or bent when he barely bought a few weeks back. He was so excited to show them to Akihiko since his friend was busy on family business that he couldn't hang out with him for the past few weeks.

Earlier that day, Akihiko had sneaked into his yard and told him they could meet at the library later in the day. His family was going into the city where they would look through some stores. Hiroki knew the trip was to force some family interaction between all the family members, especially Haruhiko and Akihiko who didn't particularly like each other. Akihiko explained the exact time period he would be wandering around the city which Hiroki memorized and asked his parents permission to go into the city.

He even denied the driver his father insisted would take him to the library but he didn't think he would need him. Hiroki was now regretting having said no to being driven to the library, carrying so many books and the long walk home wasn't something he calculated in his mind. He was glad it wasn't a real sunny day or there was an unexpected rain pour. The clouds were gathering in the sky which obscured the sun from hitting Hiroki and he kept on walking.

A strong gust of wind came out of nowhere and blew against Hiroki's body. "Damn it!" Hiroki exclaimed as he tried keeping himself up but the result was the books in his arms falling onto the ground. "I should have brought my backpack instead of carrying them..."

Nowaki snapped his head to the left when he heard the voice of a boy and he was curious on why he was yelling. He saw a boy with light brown hair in a crouching position as he tried picking up some scattered papers and the books on the concrete floor. The boy had a scowl on his face as he got all of the papers in a neat pile before the wind tried blowing them away.

Nowaki carefully passed through the street on the crosswalk when it signaled it was okay for him to walk on the street. He hurried to Hiroki's side and crouched down beside him as he started helping him pick up his things.

He asked him in a worried tone. "Are you okay?"

Hiroki nodded his head. "I'm alright," He looked at one of the bent corners of one of his books as he sighed. "But my books are not, man and I just bought these the other day. I can't ask my parents for books again this week either...I didn't think it would get this windy today..."

Nowaki made sure he got the smallest books on the floor and was careful not to bend them when he asked. "Why were you carrying so many books?" Something about the boy's voice was recognizable to Nowaki yet he couldn't figure out where he heard it from.

Hiroki mumbled as he got handed back his books. "I was going to show them to a friend when we saw each other at the library but I guess he couldn't get away from his family to come see me. I'll see him when I get back home."

It clicked inside of Nowaki's mind as he really looked at Hiroki, he knew exactly who he was. "Wait...You're the boy from last night!" Nowaki exclaimed in excitement.

Hiroki blinked as he held his books in his arms and when he stared into Nowaki's rare blue eyes. "Wait..you are the kid who ran away from home." He looked around the street. "Don't tell me you ran away again?! C'mon! Didn't you learn your lesson from last night?!"

Nowaki shook his head with a giggle. "No!" He pointed across the street as his parents were hurrying across the street. They noticed Nowaki was missing from their side and they saw standing next to Hiroki. "My parents are over there."

Hiroki sighed in relief as he told Nowaki. "Good, honestly kid you are going to worry a lot of people when you are older."

"Nowaki."

"Huh?"

Nowaki smiled at Hiroki as he bowed. "I'm Nowaki Kusama."

Hiroki was surprised at how politely Nowaki introduced himself, a lot of the kids he knew wouldn't do what Nowaki was doing. "Hiroki Kamijou." He bowed as well, he didn't want to seem rude to Nowaki since his parents taught him all about politeness. _  
_

"It's nice to meet you, I'm sorry I never gave you my name yesterday."

Hiroki balanced his things in his arms as he said. "Well I never told you mine either...so we are even."

Nowaki crouched down and picked up another book as he said. "Is someone coming to pick you up?"

"No one is coming to get me. I didn't let the driver take me to the library like my papa wanted and I don't have any extra change for the pay phone so I can't call them to pick me up."

Nowaki patted Hiroki's shoulder. "You can walk along with me and my parents, you are still going on this direction right?" Hiroki nodded his head as Nowaki smiled big. "When my parents get here we can ask them if we can walk you home."

Hiroki frowned as he stated. "I have walked home by myself countless times you know."

"But you might drop everything in your arms again before you make it back home." Nowaki pointed out. "Besides it won't hurt if you have a group of people with you. My mommy says that it's always good to be with a group or another person when walking through the city, it's much safer."

"I guess...I'm used to getting back alone anyway. My mama would probably be relieved that someone is taking me home and that I am safe I guess." Hiroki said as he tightened his grip on his books when he felt them slipping in his arms.

Nowaki's father made it to their side with a frown on his face. "Nowaki why did you walk away from us? You know you are not supposed to separate from us when we are in the city. What if we didn't notice you were gone? You could have at least told us you wanted to see something."

Nowaki's shoulders slumped slightly as he said. "But Hiroki-san's books fell to the ground and I was helping him to pick them all up. I'm sorry."

Hiroki vouched for Nowaki as he turned to the older man, he even held his books a little higher to prove his point. "Nowaki really was helping me pick up my books sir. They all fell from my arms when the wind hit me the wrong way so I wasn't able to keep them from falling."

The older man scratched the back of his head when he heard Hiroki and saw that he wasn't lying. He didn't know Nowaki had a friend outside of the orphanage, most of the kids tended to have friends inside of the orphanage and never branched out to the other kids in the school. Although this would have made it obvious that they were the group of orphans but they felt safer in their inner circle.

He patted Nowaki's shoulder as he told him. "Ah...well you should have alerted us at least." Nowaki nodded his head with a smile on his face, he wasn't in trouble after all.

Then the older woman heard everything as she got closer and ruffled Nowaki's hair with a smile on her face. "You are such a good helper Nowaki."

Nowaki giggled as Hiroki stood beside him and stayed quiet while he stared at all three of them. Even if Nowaki assured him he would ask his parents to accompany him home, it didn't mean they would agree to his request. They must have been doing some errands and wouldn't spare any time to walk a kid all the way home.

"Oh! Before I forget," Nowaki asked with a big smile on his face. "Can we walk Hiroki-san home? He doesn't have a car picking him up and I don't want him to go back alone."

The adults looked at each other briefly before the woman asked Hiroki. "Where do you live Hiroki-chan?"

Hiroki explained where he lived and he saw their eyes widening. The whispered between each other as Nowaki looked at Hiroki with a worried expression on his face. He didn't know Hiroki lived that far away but he was sure his parents wouldn't disappoint him and walk Hiroki home. They weren't the type to let any child go anywhere without another person with them, this was something they taught them at the orphanage.

The woman looked down at Hiroki and said. "We would love to take you home Hiroki-chan but you would have to come home with us. This way we can drive you home and you won't tire yourself out by walking back."

"Also by the time you walk back home it will be late and I am sure your parents will worry about you." The man said as he reached out his hands. "Why don't I carry your books for you? They must be really heavy."

Hiroki was somewhat hesitant to hand his books to some stranger but they were Nowaki's parents. "That would be helpful, thank you." He gave his books to the man who arched a brow at how much heavier he expected them to be but he kept that to himself.

Nowaki held Hiroki's hand as he grinned. "Why don't we hold hands on our walk home Hiroki-san?" Hiroki's cheeks turned lightly pink as he curtly nodded his head and let Nowaki hold his hand.

The woman and the man chuckled as they started walking on ahead of the children. They didn't see anything wrong with them holding hands since Nowaki always held their hands and the other children at the orphanage. Besides, they were little so no one would question why they were holding hands to begin with.

When they finally arrived at Hiroki's home by car, Nowaki and his parents were surprised at the size of the manor Hiroki lived in. Hiroki thanked Nowaki's parents as he got out of the car and he was given back his books. They were met with Hiroki's mother who gratefully thanked them for dropping off Hiroki at the manor. She grew worried when she saw Akihiko back home and Hiroki wasn't with him like she expected. She was actually on her way out to look for him before they arrived.

Nowaki's parents said it wasn't a big deal since they couldn't leave Hiroki walking around with such heavy books on his own. Nowaki waved sadly at Hiroki as his parents got back inside of the car. He wanted to be Hiroki's friend but knowing he lived so far away might make their friendship impossible.

Hiroki noticed Nowaki's sad face as he walked close to him when he asked. "Okay what's wrong Nowaki?"

Nowaki tried not to cry when he said. "I won't be able to see you again...you live so far away..."

"Why not?" Hiroki asked and when he saw Nowaki was about to cry, he panicked a bit. "Look just because I live here doesn't mean I won't see you again alright. Besides, I am always doing some activities in the city so I might bump into you again. We can hang out more often after I'm out...if you want that is."

Nowaki smiled big as he wiped the tears from his eyes. "Really? Can we see each other again tomorrow?"

Hiroki had a piano lesson but he knew he could leave early if he played everything to his instructors expectations. "I usually go to the park we saw each other at after my piano lesson at 4 so maybe then we can see each other."

Nowaki nodded his head furiously as he ran to the car and asked his parents with excitement in his voice. Hiroki turned and saw the amused expression on his mother's face on how easily he caved to Nowaki. He kept his comments to himself when he saw Nowaki running back in excitement.

"One of the big kids has to walk me to the park but I can see you again!"

Hiroki nodded his head as he poked Nowaki on the forehead. "Good. I don't want to hear you ran away from home again."

"I won't." Nowaki hugged Hiroki before he ran back to the car and they drove back home.

Hiroki walked inside of the house as his mother pinched his cheeks with grin on her face. He heard her telling him how sweet he was to meet his new little friend again. Hiroki blushed at her pinching his cheeks like a baby and was glad when the phone rang so his mother had to leave him to answer it.

* * *

Hiroki opened the box of sweets his mother sent him for his birthday earlier that day. He saw a variety of brands scattered and mixed into the knitted sweaters she carefully placed inside of the cardboard box. Hiroki swore he smelled her rose scented perfume and he got closer to the box and found the scent on the sweaters she made him. He smiled lightly, she always made him and Nowaki lovely sweaters for their birthdays. Her lingering perfume always had them remembering how much she cared about the both of them that she spent countless hours making them hand-knit presents.

Hands snaked around his abdomen and Hiroki felt a the warmness of his lover's chest. He took out a sweater and held it close to his chest, he looked up at Nowaki's sparkling blue eyes. Hiroki's cheeks turned a slight pink when he saw Nowaki's charming smile. This man never failed to give him a smile when he saw him, except when they had a fight of course.

Nowaki kissed his cheek as he breathed in his lover's lavender scent as he told him with a loving voice. "Good morning Hiro-san."

Hiroki presented the dark blue sweater to Nowaki when he said. "Morning Nowaki. Mom sent me my birthday box already and a long message on my phone telling me about some of my embarrassing birthdays."

Nowaki chuckled when he pointed out. "Well I have been to a few of those, so there is really no need to tell me."

Hiroki smacked Nowaki lightly on the arm. "Hush you, you are never to repeat what happened in those parties. Those are between you and me and my whole family you hear."

"Crystal clear my love." Nowaki told him as he looked onto the box and saw the bags on candy underneath the other sweater. "Your mom really sent you a lot of things this year."

Hiroki looked through the box with a frown on his face. "She sent me no alcohol though...how is this a good birthday without beer?"

"When it was my birthday, all we did was watch movies and we had fun Hiro-san." Nowaki commented as he held him tighter. "Besides we don't want another Junai Egoist book coming out because you so happened to call Usami-san again."

Hiroki frowned at the mention of his distant friend's name as he said. "You know I rarely talk to the guy anymore why would I call him?"

Akihiko and Hiroki had not frequented each others company for a couple of years. Hiroki first suspected it was because he got together with Nowaki but Akihiko told him that wasn't the case. The man was still pining over Takahiro and was glad Hiroki got into a relationship with someone he obviously cared for. Although, in recent events, Hiroki was sure the distraction came from Akihiko toying with his new lover. To their surprise it was Takahiro's younger brother, they were astounded Takahiro didn't know a thing about their relationship.

Not that it surprised Hiroki, he had to really get descriptive when it came to telling Takahiro he was with Nowaki. He held back any intimate details and when Nowaki kissed him when he arrived, that was when Takahiro got the point. Takahiro was overjoyed they were together but didn't think they were together since they didn't act like the normal couple.

Most of the time Hiroki tried calling Akihiko, he was met with Akihiko saying that Aikawa was breathing down his neck and he couldn't talk until his book was finished. Hiroki gave up trying to call him half the time when the last time he called, he heard the most interesting noises between Akihiko and his new lover that he hung up after a few seconds. When there is an answering machine, he leaves his message and waits for Akihiko to call him. He would rather not hear Akihiko's love life and have him call back.

Nowaki informed Hiroki as remembered the series Hiroki hated with a passion. "Well I saw a Junai Egoist book just last week and I read some of it, it was exactly like our trip to Okinawa. Except for the exaggerated dialogue, your character was screaming in apparent ecstasy and my character never moaned once during the sex scenes."

"I  _don't_ scream, I know I don't and for that matter  _why_  are you reading that trashy BL stuff?" Hiroki stared at Nowaki suspiciously when he asked. "Are you getting tired of us already that you need to read them? Am I boring you Nowaki?"

"Hiro-san you are anything but boring! I got curious about them, I heard how popular they were that I needed to know for myself if they were us."

"And?"

"They are  _not_  us," Nowaki told him as he nuzzled his face onto Hiroki's hair with a smile. "I like us better."

Hiroki huffed and poked Nowaki's chest with his finger. "Good, I don't want you sucked into that fake romantic shit."

Nowaki chuckled and he noticed a particular candy brand and he picked it up. "Now this candy is very familiar."

Hiroki arched a brow. "Really?" Hiroki read the brand as he commented. "It's just a common watermelon flavored candy Nowaki of course it's familiar."

"No no," Nowaki smiled fondly as he opened the bag and took one out. "I remember you gave me one of these when we met at the park that night, I remember it quite vividly."

Hiroki read the brand again and he looked at the candy wrapping. "Are you sure?"

"I'm very sure about remembering something this important."

Hiroki's cheeks turned a light pink as he coughed into his hand while he stated. "It's just candy. A very familiar candy that everyone gets all the time, it's no big deal."

"Well it reminds me how we first met, I could barely see you in the dark but I did remember your voice. Also, I remember the taste of this watermelon candy when I ate it on the way home." Nowaki sighed in bliss. "Then we met the next day on the road where you dropped all of the books in your arms and I went to help you."

Hiroki remembered that as he smiled lightly. "That's right...we saw each other the next day too. Funny isn't it? If we never met again the next day then we never would've gotten to be friends."

Nowaki pecked his lips. "Then we wouldn't have started started dating while I was in high school."

Hiroki poked Nowaki on the forehead. "Yes and the countless teasing I got from Akihiko for dating someone as young as you at that time."

"Also when you saw me after your first few months of university and you saw how tall I had gotten, the expression on your face was so funny." Nowaki told him as he saw Hiroki's frown and he ruffled his hair. "Then you asked me if I was someone else because I couldn't possibly be me since I wasn't supposed to be so tall."

Hiroki rolled his eyes. "I was shocked okay? How was I supposed to know that you would suddenly tower over me? I was used to looking down at you and then out of nowhere I have to look up to meet your eyes. I don't really care about that anymore, if you were shorter than me at this point then I would find it odd. Having you being so tall does suit you."

Nowaki smiled when he told Hiroki. "I have to say, I love having you look up to see my eyes. Your eyes sparkle when you do."

Hiroki denied it with a scoff. "My eyes do  _not_  sparkle..."

Nowaki chuckled as he said. "Of course they don't, my mistake Hiro-san."

The phone rang as Nowaki loosened his arms and Hiroki left his embrace to answer the phone. He turned his attention to the watermelon flavored candy as he took one out and unwrapped it. He popped it inside of his mouth and the flavor reminded him of that day and how it made him feel better. The images blurred over time but he remembered the words Hiroki told him which stuck with him throughout his life.

He placed the bag inside of the box as he went to Hiroki's side while he talked with Akihiko on the phone. Nowaki heard Hiroki pause while he slightly heard Akihiko talking on the other line. He turned Hiroki around slightly who gave him a questioning expression on what he needed as he held the phone to his ear.

Hiroki arched a brow as he mouthed. 'What is it?'

Nowaki didn't answer him as he bent down and kissed Hiroki. His hands rested on Hiroki's lower back as he tilted his head to deepen their kiss. He pried Hiroki's lips open with his tongue while he kept his eyes slightly open and watched his lover's reaction.

Hiroki dropped the phone onto the floor in shock as he closed his eyes and let Nowaki kiss him. He placed his hands on Nowaki's shoulders as he leaned closer to Nowaki's chest. Nowaki passed the candy into Hiroki's mouth and broke the kiss. He smiled sweetly at his lover as he pecked his lips again. He bent down to pick up the phone and handed it to Hiroki before walking away from him.

Hiroki felt the candy inside of his mouth and his face turned a bright red. He couldn't believe Nowaki just did that do him! He turned to the phone in his hand as he told Akihiko they would talk later and hung up the phone. He remained in the spot for a few minutes until the candy was reduced to nothing and he went inside of the living room. He softly swatted Nowaki's shoulder as he collected his birthday box and left to their room so he could properly put them away.

Nowaki stared at Hiroki when he left with a huge grin on his face. The taste of the watermelon candy still remained on his tongue as he touched his lips, remembering Hiroki's lips touching his own.

THE END

 


End file.
